


In The Shadow Of His Wing

by taichara



Category: Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: The Glory Of Losers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 17:55:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10576464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: After the Corsica catastrophe, Duo takes his crisis of purpose to the only one who listens.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BatchSan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatchSan/gifts).



The open ocean. Blue sky, green water, white foaming waves; it looked for all the world like there was peace and tranquility from horizon to horizon. Not even a gull's squalling broke the ocean's calm. 

It was lovely weather for a cruise, although it was no cruise ship that slipped through the gleaming water. Not a warship, no, just a commercial cargo liner -- or at least, to all outward appearances, that's what it was. If there was one thing Mike Howard perfected years ago, it was looking blandly unobtrusive as his vessels meandered around the globe and off it --

Of course, the looming black and white hulk of Deathscythe sitting, hunkered down and knees cocked up, on the main deck did shatter the illusion. Just a bit. But Duo trusted Howard, and the man hadn't done wrong by him yet; so here he was, meandering across the deck for lack of anything else to fill the time with. And here Deathscythe was, looking like a particularly disgruntled crow with his Rousette pack still mounted to his shoulders, wingtips drooping til they touched the deck. 

The Gundam seemed disgruntled by the whole state of affairs, and Duo smirked despite himself, leaning back and cocking his head to meet the dulled green-glass eyes.

"Yeah, buddy, I know, I know. 

"The planet's gone and erupted in chaos and we're stuck on a boat doing nothing like it's some kind of vacation. Not much to be done about it 'til Howard gets a chance to knock your bugs out, though, so just sit tight for a while, okay?"

Since the first moment he'd climbed into the cockpit -- before that, even, more like the first time he met the gaze of those witchy green eyes -- Duo talked to Deathscythe. It just felt natural, never mind that the Gundam was just ("just"!) a machine ... and there were times Duo doubted that last, anyway. Too many times when Deathscythe responded in combat just _so_ , or the muted thrumming of the suit's engine block deepened into a growl like low thunder as if responding to Duo's rambling commentary. Professor G, the ornery old cuss, just might've put something _special_ in Deathscythe's OS.

Duo's smirk broadened into a self-mocking smile at the thought.

"Or maybe I'm just crazy, but I don't really care either way. I just want to get our shit together and figure out what we're going to do now. It'd be nice if the rest of the Earth Sphere could manage to be as peaceful as it feels out here right now ...

"Ha. Like that stands a chance of happening now."

It should've been much too warm out on the tropical waves to be standing on bare deckplates dressed in black from head to toe, but Duo didn't much mind. The wind helped, and hell, if he _was_ a bit uncomfortable, who cared? He had more important things to worry about.

"God, what a clusterfuck."

The sea-breeze ruffled his bangs and tried to lift his braid, and he ignored it in favour of spreading his arms out to catch more of the cooling winds. 'Clusterfuck' didn't even begin to cover what just happened, no sir. 

"Noventa's dead and all the rest of Earth's doves went up in the same ball of fire. There goes our chances. The whole damn planet's gonna want us wiped out now, and who's gonna blame them for it?

" _Damn_ it! The OZzies played us like a fiddle! The Alliance is already taking Heero's fuckup as a declaration of war ..."

... Nah, that wasn't fair. Duo swore under his breath, spat over the rail into the foaming water, then flipped around to lean against the railings and stare at the silent Deathscythe. The shadow of the Gundam's near wing fell over him, shading him from the worst of the heat.

Yeah, it wasn't fair. 

"He pulled the trigger that blew up the Alliance doves, but we were _all_ suckered by fake intel to begin with. Someone set us up but good."

Duo had a suspicion he knew exactly who to blame for that so-called 'Operation Daybreak', too. That bastard Khushrenada, for one. He'd added Septum to the list at first, but now the General was reported dead (good job, Heero, at least you blew up one guy worth blowing up when you aborted the missile strike) if the news reports Howard was relaying were accurate enough. That left another hole in the Alliance hierarchy that was no doubt already getting filled by ...

"Too bad Septum croaking means Khushrenada's got even less competition. God _damn_ , we are _so_ fragged."

A wave of -- not despair, exactly; Duo Maxwell would never admit to despair, thank you very much -- left him sagging against the rails as the sheer enormity of the mess settled over him like a jamming system he couldn't turn off. The worm was sure to turn, now, and even if the colonies denied any kind of formal war declarations until the cows came home the ground-pounders weren't likely to give up the bee in their bonnet. Not after Corsica. Duo craned his head back again to stare at Deathscythe despite his awkward sprawl.

"Well, what d'you think, Deathscythe? It's the rock and the hard place, and Corsica's just the kind of massacre I tried to kill us to avoid, y'know? Just a smaller scale, that's it. And I didn't sign onto this show to kill off innocent people.

"So what do we do now? Keep going? Give up? Slink off back to the colonies, not like I got a home colony to go back to but whatever, small details ..."

And Deathscythe's eyes flashed suddenly, brilliantly, witchily green.

Maybe it was the sun. It was probably, almost assuredly, the sun, and the few wisps of cloud cover melting away again, and the ship tacking in just the right direction to bring the sun down just _so_. Deathscythe was a mobile suit, and he didn't move unless Duo was at his controls, and all of that was just in his head, right? So it was probably just the sun.

Probably.

Nah.

"I read you loud and clear, old buddy."

A wicked smile slashed across Duo's face.

"Gimme a couple of days to freshen up my intel and knock out your bugs and slap a fresh coat of paint on you, and the God of Death rides again."

They'd never cause a massacre. But some pinpointed killing strikes, now; that was something entirely different. 

And it was time for a much-needed reaping.


End file.
